Preparing to Pitch Your Screenplay to a Studio
Pitching a script is an art form, and although it can be stressful, it's something every writer has to perfect before approaching executives or agents. So what is pitching exactly? [more…]
Improve the Odds of Getting Your Fiction Story Published
Getting your work of fiction published is different from getting nonfiction published. A fiction submission (short story or novel) must be a complete manuscript when you submit it to a publisher. Create [more…]
Examining the World of the Technical Writer
People who write technical documents come from all walks of life — and most aren't technical writers per se. Here are some actual situations of people who were called upon to write technical documents [more…]
Tuning Into the Market for Romance Novels
Many aspiring writers sit down to tell a story without a clear idea about what kind of story they're writing, whether (and where) a market exists for it, or what they'll do with the manuscript when they're [more…]
Understanding the Players in the Publishing Game
The core members of any publishing acquisition team are made up of two very different types: The creative, editorial types and the more financially driven sales and marketing types. Generally speaking, [more…]
Building Up Your Author Support Network
If you’ve finished writing a novel but aren’t published yet, you should have two goals: to make sure your novel is as good as it can be and to market yourself to agents and editors who can help you get [more…]
Good Ways to Promote Your Novel
Although it’s a wonderful feeling to finally hold your published novel in your hands, it’s an even better feeling to watch your book sell. How exactly do you go about making sure that your novel sells [more…]
Tips for Writing Books for Younger Children
The rules for writing books for younger children (ages 2–8) are different from the rules for writing books for middle graders, young adults, and adults. Keep the following twelve commandments in mind when [more…]
How to Promote Your Children’s Book
After you’ve written a children’s book, you have to sell it — you didn’t spend all that time and effort just to entertain youself, did you? Try to accomplish one of the following tasks each week to help [more…]
Age Levels for Children’s Books
If you’re writing a children’s book, it pays to be familiar with how publishers classify them. Publishers generally assign age groups for readers of various formats, as set out in the following list: [more…]
Writing Children’s Books For Dummies Cheat Sheet
As you explore writing children’s books, you enter a different world, one filled with book formats — from board books to young adult novels — and a whole different set of rules to follow and restrictions [more…]
The Checklist for Writing a Novel and Getting Published
Don’t fall down on the easy stuff. If you’re writing a novel and sending your manuscript to a publisher, it has to be in perfect shape. Make sure that you can tick every box before you consider your novel [more…]
The Structure of Your Novel Checklist
The structure is the backbone of a book: beneath the surface, it holds everything together and imposes order on the flow. Without a coherent and logical structure, the novel’s key elements are unclear. [more…]
Writing a Novel and Getting Published For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Novel writing is a most rewarding but challenging experience (even for seasoned authors). Keep this checklist by your side as you finish off your writing and start to approach publishers. [more…]
Elements of a Successful Nonfiction Book Proposal
To get your nonfiction book published, put together a strong proposal. Use the proposal to "sell" your book to potential literary agents, editors, and publishers. Make sure your proposal is as polished [more…]
Submission Strategies for Getting Your Book Published
What's your plan when it's time to submit your manuscript to publishers for consideration? Your submission contains great writing — of course. Getting your book published, however, requires a strategy [more…]
Writing a Great Query Letter for Getting Your Book Published
One of the steps to getting your book published is to write and send query letters to try to get a literary agent or an editor at a publishing house interested enough in your book to sign you as a client [more…]
Getting Published? How to Add Value to Your Book
If your book is going to be published (congrats!), offer some added value to amass legions of adoring fans more quickly. Your book's added value can be as simple as the recommendation of someone famous [more…]
How to Create a Best-Selling Book Title
You'll get help from your agent or editor with composing a title that will help sell your book, but for your own knowledge (and when it's just you trying to find that agent or editor), use the tips in [more…]
How a Literary Agent Helps Get Your Book Published
A literary agent is one of the first people to enlist in your effort to get your book published. Having a good literary agent — one who has contacts with publishers who publish the type of book you write [more…]
How to Find the Right Editor for Your Book
One of the most important tasks in getting your book published is to find an editor who's going to get behind your book and help it — and you — make your way in the publishing world. To find an editor [more…]
Getting Your Book Published For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Getting your book published is an exciting milestone and one that requires preparation. First, you must write a great query letter or proposal to pique interest from literary agents [more…]
How to Get Your Book Published
You might think that the hardest part of being a writer is finishing a book. But it can be very difficult to get your work noticed and out onto the bookshelves. You can approach literary agents, publishers [more…]
Submitting Your Work of Fiction
The page you are looking for was recently moved. Don't worry, it's still here; it just has a new address: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/improve-the-odds-of-getting-your-fiction-story-pub.html [more…]
The Major Steps in the Self-Publishing Process
If you have a great idea for a book and good writing skills, you can have a book professionally published and made available to the general public. The process is called self-publishing and it’s an involved [more…]
